Blood and Dawn
by Agent FireBird
Summary: "I think your ready." Isran said, turing around to look at me. "You can lead a mission yourself." I was stunned, the apple forgotten. "Really?" "Yes."


Tera

I looked out over the troll pens, noting the sharp clashes of metal on metal as the trolls brawled for dominance. An extremely large male and a smaller black female fought over the rotten flesh that stood between them. All the other trolls looked on, gnawing on old bones from past meals.

Isran stood next to me, watching the fight ensue. He chuckled a little, amused by the trolls. He didn't normally laugh. "Gunmar, come over here and take care of your trolls." Isran said, stomping down off the view platform.

Gunmar, who was pounding away at the forge, looked up at Isran's voice. "Oh, they'll be fine. This happens about once a week."

I followed Isran through one of the dining halls, grabbing an apple without breaking stride. I took a bite out of it as Isran lead me up to his room. My room was right next to his, which sucked sometimes when he was interrogating. _Or in other words, tourturing._ I thought, taking another bite out of my apple.

"I think your ready." Isran said, turing around to look at me. "You can lead a mission yourself."

I was stunned, the apple forgotten. "Really?"

"Yes."

_Finally! After all these years of sheltering, I finally get to lead, _I thought.

"You'll have to take Gunmar, Celan, and one of the new recruits." Isran continued, waiting for my reaction. In past years, I had a habit of taking off on my own. "Your target is a Vampire Lord in a cave not far from Iverstead. He has a couple of thralls and undead servants."

"Thank you Isran."

"Don't go thanking me yet. You still have to kill the thing first."

I nodded, turning to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing. Don't underestimate it."

A day later, I stood outside of the Vampire Lord's current lair, Pinepeak Cavern, near Iverstead. Gunmar, Celan, and Getric, the new recruit stood with me, observing the scene. There was a dead bear not far from the entrance, but there were also blood almost everywhere. From the bear or from something else I did not know, but I did hear a couple of faint screams coming from the cave.

"Come on. There's someone in their." I said, slipping my sword out of its sheath. The other men unsheathed their weapons too, following me as I went into the cave. Blood trailed into the cave, still wet because of the cave's dampness. Celan was behind me, followed by Getric and Gunmar. Cold, wet air flowed around my skin, causing me to shiver.

More screams ensued, full of pain and terror. They sounded like the screams of Isran's victims. Suddenly, the screams stopped, replaced with a gurgling sound. Then, even that faded.

I came into a medium sized cave, starlight pouring in from a hole in the roof. A large outcropping of rock blocked the view of most of the cave but blood flowed around it in a thin stream, pooling in dips in the ground.

"You there, yes you, clean this mess up." A male voice commanded. As I reached the rock pile, a shuffling sound was heard, followed by a couple of grunts.

As I peered around the rocks, I was careful not to scrape my armor against them. A man, strong and powerful, sat on a rock, blood covering his mouth and neck. Another man, a thrall by the looks of him, held a cloth and was trying to clean up the vampire's face.

A heap of cloth and armor was on the ground near the vampire, probably its just-finished meal. No blood came out of it on account of it being sucked dry. Gunmar, who had moved to the front next to me, started to growl. I glared at him, causing him to silence.

Suddenly, a great whooshing sound came from the ceiling, then a shadow fell through the roof. The thing, great and hulking, ambled up to the vampire. It had wings and great giant claws. The claws were a redish brown color and, if what I knew about vamperic monsters, I doubted it was naturally colored.

"Gargoyle." Gunmar whisphered in my ear.

_So that's what a gargoyle looks like. The other Dawnguard's descriptions don't do it justice._ I thought, remembering all the haunting tales that the Guard liked to tell me during my childhood. I shook off the memories though, as the beast began to talk.

"Master, I have found what you are looking for. I have found the target." It said in a gravelly voice.

The vampire, now cleaned up, pushed away the thrall and stood up. He was taller than I expected, easily taller than Isran. _Almost as tall as a short troll._ I thought. _How am I going to kill this thing?_

"Good." The vampire replied. "We move immediately. You, on the other hand, can go home. Your services are no longer required for now."

The gargoyle bowed, then disappeared into a whirling purple-blue mass of oblivion. The thrall had gotten up, looking to the vampire for direction.

"Go pack up. We're leaving. Now."

The thrall nodded, then walked away toward the opposite wall of the cave.

"We can't let them leave." I said, turning to my companions. Gunmar nodded, moving to the other side of the rock pile. Celan followed him while Getric came over to me. _Great. I get stuck with the newbie._

I held my hand up, making sure that Gunmar and Celan could see it. I made a fist, then pointed in the direction of the vampire. _Go._

I rushed forward, followed by Getric. Gunmar and Celan followed from the other side of the rock pile, blocking the way out. The hole in the roof was a problem but it wasn't like the vampire was going to go flying out of it.

The vampire turned to look at me, smiling. "You picked the wrong time to mess with me girly." He said, raising his fist.

I ducked under his punch slicing the sword upward but only hitting air. _This sucker's fast!_ I thought as he tried to attack me from the side. I swung my sword again, this time just barely missing his little finger.

"That was close." He said, dancing back out of my reach. "But not close enough." He was smiling, like this was a game.

I snarled at him, preparing to charge. At the last second, Getric appeared out of nowhere, slicing him down his left arm. The vampire stopped, frowning at his bleeding arm.

"Been a while since I've seen my own blood." Said the vampire, glaring at Getric. "You shouldn't have done that."

Before anyone could do anything, the vampire ripped Getric's throat out, blood gushing everywhere. Getric fell to the ground, gurgling. He died seconds later.

Celan screamed at him, charging the vampire head on.

"Celan, no!" screamed Gunmar, rushing after him.

The vampire stood there, but when Celan got close, he whipped out his arm. He grabbed Celan by his chest armor, then threw him against the cave wall. Celan didn't move once he hit the floor and I feared him to be dead.

Gunmar, enraged, came barreling into the vampire, but instead grabbed thin air. The vampire had dodged him, ending up behind the huge man.

"Too slow." The vampire said, chuckling.

As Gunmar turned, the vampire punched him full on the face, denting his helmet and knocking him down. He didn't get up either. The vampire turned to look at me, smiling.

"Your all alone now." He moved toward me, and I raised my sword, putting it between him and me.

We circled each other, looking for our weaknesses. Suddenly, the vampire rushed me, batting away my sword with a kick. My sword flew across the cave and clattered against one of the walls. The vampire grabbed me and threw me against the wall, pinning me with his sheer strength. I struggled against his arms holding me down, managing to hit him a couple of times. In the struggle, my helmet was knocked off, falling to the ground. He had one of his hands around my neck, not squeezing enough to suffocate, but enough to keep me from going anywhere.

"You. I know you. From… somewhere." The vampire said, staring at me intensely. "Tera?"

_How does he know my name?_ I stopped struggling, actually looking at him. His eyes, changed by the vampirism, held a hint of familiarity. At one time, they were probably a deep green. _How do I know that?_ His dark hair had a hint of red in it, not unlike mine. _Okay. Enough of this._ I thought, summoning up my thing I was looking for came crawling out of my mind, like drawn to a flower like a bee. I whispered the words, and a bright ray of light came shooting out of my chest, aimed right at the vampire.

The vampire hissed, the onslaught of blinding light too much for him. Suddenly, he was gone, almost like he wasn't there in the first place. I collapsed to the ground, taking deep breaths. _That spell took way too much out of me._


End file.
